


take off your armour, life's paraphernalia

by pearthery



Category: Gintama
Genre: F/F, Food Metaphors, Kagura Appreciation, Kagusoyo, Metaphors, as facilitated by soyo's sweet little heart, it's like subtext but not really, late-afternoon important chats with kagusoyo!, soyo and kagura sit together and have a nice and wonderful chat!, they also talk about eggs a lot
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-09-30
Updated: 2020-09-30
Packaged: 2021-03-07 15:50:00
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,340
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26730154
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/pearthery/pseuds/pearthery
Summary: "I'll listen to you, Soyo-chan." Kagura says steadfastly, blue eyes peering up, still so easy, her smile smoothing out into an earnest sobriety. "I'll listen for as long as you want."
Relationships: Kagura & Tokugawa Soyo, Kagura/Tokugawa Soyo
Comments: 16
Kudos: 23





	take off your armour, life's paraphernalia

**Author's Note:**

> i am contributing my part to the kagusoyo revolution! also! the title comes from Two Women by Toeti Heraty! i thought the tone of that poem meshed really well with the mood i was trying to go for in this
> 
> anywayy, from the studio who brought you shoyo monologues, comes this! SOYO  
> MONOLOGUES!

_the chaos of the city lies outside the fence—here there is space_

_— Two Women, Toeti Heraty_

* * *

"Bye Kagura-chan! Bye Soyo-hime!"

In the flushed light of the setting sun, Soyo swings her legs back and forth from the balcony of the Yorozuya office. From her wooden perch, she watches Kagura punch her glasses-wearing companion in the shoulder. A brief wince. His face scrunches up in a largely performative outrage, chest puffing, lungs swelling. 

He yells for several minutes at Kagura's mischievous smile, and then jostles off home all the same. Kagura bounds back up the stairs to plant herself at Soyo's side. 

"Does it ever get hard?" asks Soyo.

Kagura tilts her head, cheek painted gold by the dusklight. "Whaddya mean, Soyo-chan?" 

"Shinpachi-san is a pair of glasses, right? Does it ever get hard having him as a brother? I mean, he must be quite fragile. What happens when you drop him, or when you get into fights, does he—does he ever shatter, Kagura-chan?" 

Kagura's looks up in thought. "Pachi nags a lot, and he's really sensitive about being a cherry boy," she says.

She puts her umbrella down at her side. "I guess he's sorta fragile like that. He's like one of those glasses you buy from the second-hand shop, and it's all covered in tape, and you gotta go back and beat up the shopkeeper cause the tape keeps sticking to your face. But he upgraded from normal glasses to security glasses in the last serious arc, so even if you drop him from the top of the Terminal, he won't shatter." 

"Oh," says Soyo. "I see. You have a lot of faith in him." 

"Shinpachi's a hopeless four-eyes," says Kagura easily, "but he's worked really hard. He's part of my family." 

She grins and tosses herself onto the rough grain of the wooden balcony, arms splayed out and fingers stretched. Soyo holds a hand up to her mouth to cover her giggle, and Kagura wriggles around on the planks like a caterpillar until she's facing Soyo, somewhat, and her hair sticks out and forms a wispy red circlet, resting softly on her temple, framing her beaming face. 

Soyo smiles out at the sun-soaked street, humming. Down below, Tama-san sweeps the entranceway as Catherine-san gripes loudly about the unpleasant workload, and something about an '—old bag's entitled demands, it's not a family business or anythin', what's her problem, huh, thinkin' I care 'bout a reputation?' and across the street a little girl's buying takoyaki with her older brother before the stall closes for the day. The birds are trickling through the dimming sky, and everyone is heading home.

"You really care about them, don't you?" 

"Uh-huh," Kagura nods, a little awkwardly and bumping her head against the planks. "And I care about you too, Soyo-chan, so you can tell me what's wrong."

Soyo stops humming. 

"I'll listen to you, Soyo-chan." Kagura says steadfastly, blue eyes peering up, still so easy, her smile smoothing out into an earnest sobriety. "I'll listen for as long as you want." 

And Soyo knows she's telling the truth, because Kagura has no reason to lie about this, and Kagura would never lie about this, and Soyo knows that while a loose tongue is dangerous, an open ear is a kindness, and Kagura is so, so kind, that she reaches out with an open hand, too, and wraps Soyo's in hers. 

Their fingers don't tangle together, but they curl into each other's palms, like little creatures tucking themselves away in their burrows. Soyo's are soft and pale, and Kagura's are calloused and strong, and their hands shelter in the warmth of each other.

"I feel fragile, Kagura-chan," says Soyo. "Like, you know—like an egg." Kagura blinks up at her. 

"Like—crack! If someone drops me, or if I drop me, or if I trip over my kimono and then, crack, there's egg everywhere, and the egg yolk splits, even though it never splits properly when I crack egg over my rice, and it would be a really awful mess, Kagura-chan, if I messed up, and I'm sure I will!"

"So kinda like, what if your egg-on-rice goes wrong—" Kagura ponders, "—and all over the floor, and someone slips on it and cracks their head open?"

"Yes! Yes! And everyone would be looking at me, Kagura-chan. They'd all be saying, 'Oh dear, the Shogun's sister made such a mess, there's egg all over the floor, who will possibly clean it up? She's an awfully clumsy princess, isn't she?' and—"

"You're not an egg, though," says Kagura. "You're a girl." 

"I'm a princess," stresses Soyo. "Kagura-chan, that's _worse!_ Everyone, even Grampy, has to bow when they see me! Names are important, and Kagura-chan, my name is one of the most important in the country!" 

Kagura pauses. "Well, names aren't that important. Look at Tama! Tama's name means egg. But she's not an egg. She's a robot." 

"That's different!"

"You and Tama are both people, right?" Kagura sits up, her fingers wrapped firm around Soyo's clammy hand. "Even though Tama's a robot and you're a princess, you're both still people. And people can be what they wanna be." 

Soyo sits for a moment, blinking back her tears. "But… the Shogun's family are supposed to be the best people." 

Even though they are only figureheads, they are still leaders. There are eyes on them, always. Eyes on Shigeshige. Eyes on Soyo. The Shogun and his sister have to be good, have to be calm and composed and in control, always, because they are leaders, are heading the country—even though Soyo is still young, isn't fully grown into her role as a princess—and there are eyes—always—watching.

"You're my best friend," says Kagura. "I think that counts." 

Despite herself, Soyo laughs. It's wispy and a little frayed at the edges, like the clouds in the sky, but still light.

Kagura's best friend is not a bad thing to be. Maybe it's all that Soyo wants to be. Maybe all that Soyo wants to be is a normal girl, laughing in the sunset, holding hands with a girl just as happy as she is, and the only crowns that either of them are to wear are crowns made of soft light, with the sky as their backdrop. 

And, if Kagura is by her side, perhaps Soyo is not so fragile. Perhaps Soyo has upgraded, too? Maybe instead of just a raw, delicate egg, she's now a boiled egg? No, no... Maybe instead of just the Shogun's sister, she's Soyo, too? 

"Okay, Kagura-chan," she breathes out, letting her shoulders loosen and her head loll forward against the splintered wooden pillars of the balcony. "Okay. I guess it counts."

"Sure it does. It's by decree of the Queen of Kabukicho." 

"I see, I see." Soyo smiles, though a semblance of tiredness remains. "In that case, Queen Kagura, can your best friend ask for a snack?"

Kagura grins and leaps up, her hand slipping out of Soyo's. "Yup! Coming right up!"

Soyo watches her dash inside. There's a loud crash, and a louder groan, a drowsy whine, and the sound of Kagura's energetically derisive berate. Soyo swings her legs and leans back, gazing up at the wide, bright sky, aflame with a warm, welcoming, living red.

"You aren't coming in, Soyo-chan?" asks Kagura, popping her head around the sliding door. A pause, a pulse of surprise, and Soyo laughs again in delight. 

"Of course, Kagura-chan!" she chirps. And she pulls herself up from the dusty old planks, picks up Kagura's umbrella, leans it carefully against the door. 

One step, two steps, and another, and another, and another, and Soyo joins Kagura in the kitchen, and amidst the sounds of 'what wouldja like to eat, Soyo-chan?' and 'no egg-on-rice, please' and the clatter of two pairs of feet, whirling round in the Yorozuya's tiny, tousled little apartment, they become two girls, smiling. 

For this sweet, soft afternoon, and for this sweet, soft girl, she is just Soyo. Just Soyo. 

**Author's Note:**

> this has a lot less imagery than i'm used to writing, but i still enjoyed writing it! i hope you enjoyed reading it!


End file.
